Yoon Hee-seok said, "40% approval rating for 尹? Lee Jae-myung and antipathy against the Democratic Party."

[YTN radio news fighting]

□ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (07:15-09:00)
□ Broadcast date and time: January 6, 2025 (Monday)
□ Host: Kim Woo-sung PD
□ Cast: Yoon Hee-seok, former spokesman for People's Power (phone)

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

[Please clarify that this is the interview content of YTN Radio <News Fighting>]]

◆ PD Kim Woo-sung (hereinafter referred to as Kim Woo-sung): Yes, let's listen to the story in detail by connecting the phone to Yoon Hee-seok, a senior spokesman for People's Power, as I announced the third part of the News Fighting. Hello, Mr. Spokesman.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok, former spokesman for People's Power (hereinafter referred to as Yoon Hee-seok): Yes, hello.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, the impeachment trial has now completed the preparation date for the second round of hearings, and the response is now hot on whether or not to withdraw the crime of rebellion. Earlier, Lee Hyun-joo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea's supreme council, appeared, and he explained that the crime of rebellion under the criminal law was included in the impeachment trial, but the people seem to be talking about a re-vote. What's your position?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: First of all, it is said that they argue whether they are guilty of impeachment under the criminal law, so the essence is the same, but we can never accept it. This is because if the Constitutional Court judges and does not worry about the entire reason for impeachment, which was decided by the National Assembly, it can only be seen as a procedural defect. For example, if any of the reasons for impeachment were omitted, the question of whether the National Assembly would have passed on December 14th remains first. It's nothing else, it's a presidential impeachment issue, and besides, doesn't the impeachment trial end with a single decision, not a three-trial system? There is no procedural flaw. So, this should not happen because of the Democratic Party's political ambition to hold an early presidential election before the end of Lee Jae-myung's trial. So, we believe that if we want to judge impeachment only by constitutional amendment without civil war, we need to go through the impeachment process of the National Assembly again.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: It could not have been passed if the civil war was said to be absent from the impeachment motion. Are you judging like this?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: Don't Representative Kim Sang-ho, who already voted for it, express his opinion to our party that we should do this again in that case? I think 12 lawmakers in our party voted for the impeachment bill, but even if only five of them disagree, we can calculate the number that the impeachment bill could not be passed. Yes, that's why it's argued that there shouldn't be any flaws in this process, so there can't be anything that doesn't argue about whether impeachment is guilty or not under the criminal law.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: He keeps mentioning the case of former President Park Geun Hye. Kwon Sung-dong, the floor leader of the party, was a member of the impeachment committee at the time, but he attacked the president, saying, "Didn't he only deal with whether or not the president is willing to protect the constitution?"

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: At that time, bribery charges related to the alleged manipulation of state affairs were removed. That was because bribery and coercion were secondary issues among the reasons for impeachment, and at that time, it was effectively revised by the ruling and opposition parties' agreement. However, this civil war is the most important part of the impeachment motion against President Yoon. So, if this civil war is eliminated, it will be an impeachment trial that has lost its focus, and the reason for the ongoing impeachment of former Acting President Han Deok-soo is also a civil war. Then, what should we do? Doesn't this cause a question about this and cause a chain connection? That's why we can't overlook it.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Once the first meeting of the eight-member system is held, we will see what position the Constitutional Court will take on this and ask you again, but has the party's position been decided or is it under discussion?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: If the Constitutional Court removes the crime of rebellion in relation to impeachment, we will have to organize our opinions, but even assuming that case, we have no choice but to insist on a re-decision if we combine what you have said so far.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: We need to see your results, but I think the missing part of the criminal law for rebellion will be a demand for a re-decision. That was the prospect. That's right. The deadline for the arrest warrant is midnight today. There was a situation where the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit and the Security Service confronted each other. What do you think? The security agency's video messages and interviews with the security director came out unusually. I'm curious about the overall situation judgment first.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: This is the problem that begins here that the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit does not have the right to investigate rebellion. There is no investigative power and the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit cannot prosecute the president. So, is it true that such an agency requested a warrant? And isn't there a part that violates legislative power in the contents of the warrant issued? Except for the application of Article 110-111 of the Criminal Act, so the president's lawyers are illegal about the contents of the warrant in the procedure for issuing an arrest warrant. For the reason that this is super-legal, the Constitutional Court has applied for a provisional injunction to suspend the validity of the trial for power dispute. That's why what kind of presidential security is it? It is an organization that exists only to secure the safety of the president.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: If the warrant is executed without any procedural defects, of course, the security service has no choice but to comply, but there is an expedient to judicial proceedings as it is now. be in violation of the law The security service cannot respond to the execution of this arrest warrant amid this controversy. It's not the first time I've made this judgment.I think there's plenty of room for understanding.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, President Yoon has filed another complaint against 150 investigative personnel, including the head of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit. What do you think?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: First of all, that's something that President Yoon can fully argue about. Whether the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit has the authority to direct and do something about the police, so everything is a little strange, but it's all the first time ever. The inadequacies of legislation. Isn't there a sharp conflict between state agencies on this part? So, in this situation, something must be done in a perfect state where no one can claim this defect procedurally. I think both the ruling and opposition parties will probably agree on this point.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: In the midst of this, there is a position that the acting president Choi Sang-mok should exercise his appropriate command to ensure that the investigation and investigation proceed. What should I say about the acting president Choi Sang-mok? There's a lot of talk about sandwiches.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: Acting Chief Choi Sang-mok must also be in a very embarrassing position. However, even here, the security agency's position does not seem to 100% affirm whether acting chief Choi Sang-bok has the authority to direct the current security agency. The incumbent president has been suspended from his duties, but he is in existence, and he is subject to security, so he will take up the status of security. I understand that this is the position. Then, in this situation, acting Choi Sung-mok's worries deepen because it is also a national tragedy that there is another situation where Choi Sang-mok commanded something about the security agency and it is rejected. I think there is also a controversy over whether it is right to pressure him again.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Well, it could be a personal statement from Lee Hyun-joo, the supreme council member of the Democratic Party, but earlier, he used the expression, "It's another civil war over the arrest warrant of this security service." What do you think about this?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: The Democratic Party is making the case now by connecting everything to a civil war. I think we need to think and speak about how such excessive arguments are accepted by the people now. The Democratic Party of Korea continues to push ahead with this impeachment situation, but it is also pushing for something very violently just because it has gained political dominance. If you talk about the civil war as a fact, but the Democratic Party is not so good at this situation, and if you develop the logic based on it, excessive remarks will inevitably cause excessive opposition. In the current situation, the effort to stabilize something rather than excessive can be much more prominent to the public.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, this can be a question from the perspective of the general public, not a lawyer. In a statement on the 12th, President Yoon Suk Yeol said that he would confidently serve as a judge if it were an investigation and impeachment trial, but he is now filing legal objections or appealing again for various procedures. There is a general perception that words and actions are a little different. How can I explain it?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: President Yoon cannot respond 100% because procedural defects are constantly found in this judicial process. President Yoon's lawyer also responds unconditionally to the execution of legitimate warrant requests. I said this before entering the Constitutional Court. However, I've been talking about the current situation for a long time, but it's a little strange from the beginning. Why did the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, which has no investigative power and no prosecution power against the president, make a request for the warrant and the judge will exclude the criminal law clause and the criminal law clause from the warrant? Since the problem started from here, it is too much to directly link the president's previous remarks with his refusal to execute the warrant now.

◆ [Kim Woo-sung] I think so. Lee Jae-ho, chairman of the Democratic Movement Memorial Project, is now a conservative senior. He also did a lot of activities during the Lee Myung Bak President Lee Jae-myung, but he said that refusing to investigate is not democracy.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: In principle, that's true. As I just said, however, the reason for Yoon's rejection of the investigation should be fully considered, and what should be corrected should be corrected. I'm emphasizing this.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, there are about 40 members of the People's Power in front of the official residence today, but the party seems to have drawn a line like this, "It's the decision of individual lawmakers." What do you think?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: It is true that the voices of the members of the party are also very broad in this matter. But I think that the leadership's drawing this line is on the level of individual lawmakers, at least the leadership's negative view of the activities in Zhangyu, not the institutional sphere.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, I'm making a slightly different judgment on the outside. That's what I'm talking about. It has been reported that Yoon Sang-hyun and Kim Min-jung went to their official residence frequently, but Kim Min-jung's remarks are also rampant. There were many other expressions besides Chinese participating in the pro-impeachment rally, but how did you see this part?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: I made that claim and deleted it because it was controversial. The bottom line is that we should not make a claim that cannot be definitively proved in such a sensitive and extraordinary situation. I think this comment is very inappropriate if former lawmaker Kim Min is now a responsible member of the ruling party.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, we still don't know whether the impeachment trial will be cited or not, and how far the investigation into the alleged rebellion will be proven and the trial will proceed. In fact, interest in early presidential elections is increasing in politics. The same goes for the people, but if you have an early presidential election in mind, you will have a lot of worries about how to establish the relationship between the president of Yoon Suk Yeol and the people's power.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: First of all, the people's power is not to protect President Yoon's individual personality when it comes to the execution of arrest warrants and withdrawal of reasons for rebellion in the impeachment trial. I'm making this argument to look back on the rule of law as a whole and fix the wrongs. First of all, if I were to talk about President Yoon and the early presidential election, wouldn't a national judgment have already been made on at least that part of the emergency martial law? Since the party exists for the people, it will move accordingly according to what the will of the people is. Let me tell you this.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: I will follow the will of the people. But in fact, there are many arrows of criticism that they are protecting the president of Yoon Suk Yeol. Can you explain this a little more?

◇ [Yoon Hee-seok] That's the part I just told you about. Since we are the president we produced, we are fully aware of the political burden we have. However, although we are some lawmakers, the impeachment bill was passed by the National Assembly in favor of impeachment. Since it was judged that the impeachment trial process and the investigation process of rebellion under this situation lacked objectivity even if President Yoon was from our party, we are arguing that there are many things that need to be corrected. However, regarding emergency martial law declared by President Yoon, the public judgment and our judgment are the same. Please focus on that.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, we need to subdivide it and look at it delicately. It might mean this, but in the case of former lawmaker Yoo Seung Min, he appeared on our program and now the power of the people is going to Yeongnam Jamin-Leon. You also surrounded the expression that you are at the mercy of some lawmakers in Yeongnam. Rep. Kim Sang-wook also needs to break up with the asphalt right. That's what I expressed. Is there a talk in the party about these parts? What do you think?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: There are many. The asphalt right, for example, is influenced by the Liberal Unification Party led by Pastor Chung Kwang-ho, so we draw the line like this, saying that the individual lawmakers participate in the outdoor rally led by Pastor Chung Kwang-ho. You mentioned the members of the Yeongnam region, but it is difficult to agree with them 100%. Because the members of the Yeongnam region are the same people as us, and the residents of Yeongnam are the same people, and they all make negative judgments about emergency martial law, it is natural for individual lawmakers to concentrate on local public sentiment and express their intentions accordingly, but I don't think that it works too much and leads the entire party.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, I think it would be easy to understand if you could consider the various situations of the expression earlier that it would be with the basis of public judgment on emergency martial law. Some surveys showed that President Yoon's approval rating exceeded 40%, the highest since his impeachment. Oh, should I say I recovered? How are you interpreting it?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: First of all, this absolute number from the polls is only a statistical estimate.

◆ [Kim Woosung] Yes, that's right.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: I don't think it's logical to give much meaning to the numbers themselves, but the numbers in the polls you mentioned are higher than the general expectations.

◆ Kim Woosung: Yes

◇ [Yoon Hee-seok] So when it comes to interpreting this, you can see it like this. The radicality, impatience, and irresponsibility that the Democratic Party of Korea, led by Chairman Lee Jae-myung, is showing in the impeachment process is causing antipathy from the people. This kind of interpretation is sufficient. I look at it like this.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: In the end, the logic of antipathy against Lee Jae-myung has been in a solid context for quite some time now. The Trial of Representative Lee Jae-myung Is it because these various situations are linked to judicial risks? If you could interpret it a little more.

◇ [Yoon Hee-seok] That's right. Representative Lee Jae-myung knows that there is a judicial risk, but can't it be seen as the political desire of the Democratic Party of Korea to dream of holding a presidential election as soon as possible to avoid it, registering as a candidate, running, and winning the election? The Democratic Party is talking about antisemitism. The impeachment trial is a race for speed, and the trial of Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party is being delayed. What kind of people can accept this as fair? I think the evaluation of this is to explain the situation in which the approval rating for President Yoon is high in the opinion poll you just mentioned, and the approval rating for representative Lee Jae-myung is falling considerably more than that of the Democratic Party.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: There is also a prospect that there will be an internal departure from the people's power in re-voting now that Acting President Choi Sang-bok exercised the right to request reconsideration. The entire party is now known to maintain a single response to the treatment by voting down. What is the situation?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: That's right. This double special prosecution law is a re-decision without the unconstitutionality that we've been insisting on has not been cured. Our sense of problem continues with such unconstitutionality that there was no agreement between the ruling and opposition parties and the ruling party's exclusion from the special prosecutor's recommendation process. In addition to that, if we think about this confrontation, I think there will be few votes for departure from our party this time

◆ Kim Woo-sung: There will be very few leave votes. I think there's also interest in drawing up amendments. In fact, I wonder if there will be a consultation now because the power of the people is targeting Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party of Korea is targeting each other in Yoon Suk Yeol. The possibility of an amendment is

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: We need to see the results of the re-decision first, but we have expressed our willingness to negotiate to some extent if the bill is scrapped. First of all, the unconstitutionality must be excluded. Then, the scope of the investigation should be more sophisticated, and it should be an independent counsel law that focuses on the real investigation while minimizing political controversy. I have that opinion.

◆ [Kim Woosung] Okay. Regarding the re-vote of the Dual Patent Act earlier, has it been decided by the party?

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: I haven't checked that far, but I think it'll be almost like that.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, one has not yet appointed a constitutional judge, but the acting president Choi Sang-bok said, "Agreement between the ruling and opposition parties," but in terms of the power of the people, there is no consultation between the ruling and opposition parties. Some say that we need to reach an agreement, but there is no agreement again, so we can't explain it well.

◇ Yun Hee-seok: Isn't there a custom? The Democratic Party pushed for the election of another ruling and opposition parties, and the Democratic Party recommended it. He first reveals that it was difficult for him to respond to the Democratic Party's unreasonable claim to appease him even if his various powers and such functions were their functions.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Yes, I also talked about the Democratic Party's position on someone who hasn't been appointed yet. The phone is a little uneven, so I'll put my mouth closer and ask you one more question. You made this comment on a recent broadcast. You can go to the Constitutional Court in Yongsan and make it 5 to 3 and win the impeachment trial, that is, you can dismiss it. You said you made this judgment, what is the atmosphere like?

◇ [Yoon Hee-seok] That's what I'm saying.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: There is also such an opinion. I see.

◇ Yoon Hee-seok: It was the same for former President Park Geun Hye, but now we're fighting a number fight, right? Yes, more than six people should approve, but if only five people approve, the impeachment will be dismissed. The logic is that if eight people judge each person's disposition and the appointment process, some people will agree or disagree. These numbers can come out. What came out of it could be rejected by a 5-3 vote. This opinion is around or within the presidential office. This is what I delivered to you.

◆ [Kim Woosung] Yes, sir. Thank you for your comment.

◇ YOON HEE SEOK: Yes, thank you.

◆ Kim Woo-sung: Until now, I was Yoon Hee-seok, a senior spokesman for the People's Power.